Competitive Races Put New York State in Thick of the Fight for Congress

New York State has become a prime focus of the battle for control of Congress, as both parties and their allies deploy ground troops and pump millions of dollars into more than a half-dozen competitive districts.

The intense interest reflects how energized the fight for the House has become as the election enters its final five weeks. Only a few months ago, Democrats faced big hurdles in New York, with districts once deemed safe suddenly becoming vulnerable, largely because of new Congressional maps. Now, the same Democratic incumbents are showing resilience, while Republican lawmakers face stiff re-election challenges, according to independent political analysts and officials in both parties.

Democrats are strongly urging donors to turn their attention to the Congressional races. Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, and Representative Steve Israel of Long Island, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, are hosts of a Manhattan fund-raiser on Thursday for the party’s challengers and incumbents; former Vice President Al Gore is a “special guest.”

Most independent analysts have predicted that Republicans will retain control of the House, but some uncertainty has emerged in recent days. And independent projections that have Democrats winning the 25 seats needed to reclaim the majority requires them to post a net gain of 3 or 4 seats in New York.

Money is pouring into House races in the state, with outside organizations, including advocacy groups and “super-PACs,” funneling in $4.1 million since Labor Day. More than $3 million of that has come from groups supporting Republicans. Since late August, the two parties have also invested in the state, with the National Republican Congressional Committee spending about $2.8 million, compared with $1.8 million from the committee Mr. Israel leads.

“Democrats have said that New York is key to their drive to take back the House,” said Nathaniel Sillin, a spokesman for the Republican Congressional committee. “But the fact that they are allowing themselves to be outspent suggests that they are not serious.”

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Representative Michael G. GrimmCredit
Luke Sharrett for The New York Times

Mr. Israel said the large infusion of money from conservative groups underscored the concern gripping Republicans. “These races are slipping away and now they are panicking,” he said.

Republicans have singled out four Democrats in the state for defeat: Louise M. Slaughter, a 13-term representative from Rochester; Timothy H. Bishop, from Long Island; Kathy Hochul, who represents the Buffalo area; and Bill Owens, in the far north. Republican challengers, with the help of the national groups, have unleashed aggressive advertisements.

But with the exception of Ms. Hochul, whose race is tight, the targeted Democrats have managed to maintain an advantage. The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan monitor of Congressional races, said the seats held by Mr. Bishop and Mr. Owens were leaning Democratic, while the one held by Ms. Slaughter was likely to remain Democratic.

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Representative Kathy HochulCredit
Brendan Bannon for The New York Times

Mr. Owens said that while he worried that the barrage of advertising might drown him out, his constituents appeared unmoved, with many telling him “that when they see what they perceive to be a negative ad, they just tune it out.”

Mr. Bishop, a five-term incumbent, said that he had deployed a large network of volunteers to knock on doors and make phone calls and that he had significantly expanded his get-out-the-vote operation after the 2010 election, when he came within 600 votes of losing his seat. “We knew we were going to be a magnet for Republican super-PAC money,” he said.

The parties and their allies are also battling it out for three Republican-held seats, including the 25th District, in the Syracuse area, where Representative Ann Marie Buerkle faces an uphill battle against Dan Maffei, the Democrat she ousted in 2010. Two other first-term Republican incumbents stand only an even chance of holding on to their seats, according to some analysts.

In the Albany area, an especially competitive contest has developed between Representative Chris Gibson and his Democratic challenger, Julian Schreibman. Nearly $2 million has recently poured in from the national parties and pro-Republican groups like Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies.

The third embattled Republican freshman is Representative Nan Hayworth, who represents the suburbs north of New York City. She is facing Sean Patrick Maloney, who was an aide to former Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

In an interview, Ms. Hayworth predicted that the Democratic attacks against her, which suggest that she is a right-wing extremist who is out of touch with the district, will ultimately fail.

“It’s a tone-deaf and unsupportable argument,” she said. “People in the district know who I am.”

Republican leaders in Washington have moved aggressively to defend Ms. Hayworth’s seat, spending nearly $650,000 in recent weeks, while Democratic groups, including the House Majority PAC, have spent nearly $800,000.

A bright spot for the Republicans is Staten Island, where Representative Michael G. Grimm continues to hold an advantage despite scrutiny of his fund-raising from federal prosecutors, officials in both parties and independent analysts say.

Derek Willis contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on October 4, 2012, on page A28 of the New York edition with the headline: Competitive Races Put New York State in Thick of the Fight for Congress. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe